Music – A Real Time Machine (Originally Posted 06/27/09)

This began as a single post but ended up as four, which I’ll of course space out. Also, blogspot is annoying the crap out of me with its narrow space (Seriously guys, no one uses 800×600 anymore). I forsee a wordpress in my future. Until then, on to music!

For me, and for a lot of people, music has an incredible ability to bring back memories and thoughts, for me even moreso then photographs or videos. I will associate a piece of music (usually whatever I happen to be listening to at the time) with an event or chain of events, that music will come to define those events, to symbolize them and shape them. Pictures help me remember specifics – “Woah, you looked like that back then?” or even what events occurred. Music does something different that overall I think is more important – it brings back emotion. It brings back the way you felt at that time, good or bad, with astoundingly clarity, accuracy and intensity. It is nothing short of remarkable. Music has a strange power about it that truly transcends language.

I can give a couple of examples. Over the fall, Adam had a brief Simon and Garfunkel kick, and he often would play “Keep the Customer Satisfied” before he went to sleep. I think the happiest I’ve ever been was in those two weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Whenever I hear that song, it makes me feel what I felt then – that profound sense of hope, of optimism, of potential, of realization that people actually *gasp* liked me! Whenever I hear that song, I think of that time. I feel that happiness I felt as I walked back to Baker in the chilly night air, having messed around on the WCC couches. I realized that for that one moment – that one, singular moment – that I felt truly content and hopeful. That was an extremely powerful emotion, and Simon and Garfunkel bring that right back.

The other key example that I have to highlight is older – my senior year of High School I went to Spain. It wasn’t a good experience at all, despite the utmost efforts of the teacher I went with. I went because I wanted to get to know people; and in the end though I tried I ended up being more isolated then ever, only in a foreign country. That is not the point, the point is that my tiny $30 mp3 player only held a few songs besides the Galactica soundtracks, and having listened to the Galactica ones approximately 20000 times more then anyone should listen to anything, I played them that whole trip. Whenever I hear one of those songs, it brings a lot back. Not good feelings, horrible ones, stressful and anguished ones, feelings of a time of confusion and stress. But they come roaring back, with the same power that I felt on one particular night, which changed me in ways I will never begin to understand and have never been able to explain. That, however, is for another time!

The point is musics incredible power, and this is something that I suppose I took for granted. I assumed that others felt the same way – moments defined by music (the classic idea of two lovers having a special song that takes them back to one moment of bliss). However, it seems that some people don’t quite experience this, so I am curious as to what anyone actually reading this experiences? Can you create a soundtrack spanning the past few months that will bring back your emotions? I’ve mapped out the past 10 months with at least 1-2 songs per month. I won’t bore you with that list, but I am curious.

Thanks for putting up with this atrocious layout…..argh! In other news, my tire completely ripped itself apart on I-35, which was fun as i swerved through 4 lanes in rush hour as i lost control of my car. Thankfully, I made it to the side of the road without incident, and popped the spare on. Be Seeing you! (starting today, if you know where I’m getting “Be Seeing You” from, you win a fabulous prize!)

Caprica: The Soundtrack (Originally Posted June 06, 2009)

As you may or may not be aware, I don’t actually need to eat food. I can subsist wholly on music by Bear McCreary, who is pretty much the coolest composer ever. I can respect your opinion if it is different then mine, however your opinion is wrong. Killzone 2 is the Best Ga- I mean Bear McCreary is the best composer ever. So, I was quite ecstatic today when I arrived home from a long, boring day at the UTSWMSADL(University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Library, or from now on, the UTSW Library). My package had arrived, and with the other big news in Duckeh-land for the day being that I found the food court at said tounge-twistingly long place, I was happy.

Even better, I got the thing signed by the man himself, Bear McCreary. So, because I’m the only big soundtrack fan I really know, I’m going to go a bit more in depth about it. What do you mean that logic doesn’t make sense? MY LOGIC IS FLAWLESS *evilduckeydeathglare*.

The Caprica score is an intentionally different beast then McCreary’s previous Galactica scores (yes, there’s more music besides ‘All Along the Watchtower’). Whereas Galactica makes liberal use of sweeping percussion, ethnic woodwinds that only 12 people in the world can play, and orchestra, Caprica is a more traditional score dominated by the Orchestra. For a show that lacks the space battles and epic punch, this is suiting. It’s a more intimate, personal score, that outlines beautifully each of the two families (the Graystone’s and Adama’s), and each of the characters. It is not, however, completely disconnected from Galactica. In “The Adama Name”, the familiar (to nerds like myself) father-son Adama theme that plays whenever Lee and his Father share a tender moment is played as Joseph Adama tells a young William of his true name and family.

I have a weakness for Action Scores, as much as I love the orchestra. Suprisingly, Caprica delivers on that note, though it won’t be able to hold a candle to the Galactica: Season 4 sountrack that’s coming. We hear the full pounding Taiko’s as we watch the very first Cylon, and the percussion is used several times more as the tension builds. It’s a wonderful soundtrack, though as I’ve said it won’t be able to compare to the upcoming Season 4 soundtrack. This was an entire CD taken from a decent two hour pilot, instead of 21 hours of some of the most astounding, action packed and emotionally wrenching stuff ever to grace the television screen. But I haven’t talked enough, so let me go into a track-by-track….

AHHHHH IM BEING EATEN BY A SHARK OH GOD HELP M- oh wait a minute, my legs are just sore from excercising yesterday. Sorry to raise the alarm. Anyway, that’s probably my cue to stop and allow you to resume your normal lives.
- Be seeing you! (If anyone figures out where im getting the preceeding three words from I’ll buy you a box of cookies. Seriously.)